Panoramic views of Iroha Island from the observatory

In the afternoon, we had decided to take a drive🚙 to Iroha (いろは) Island viewpoint in the Hizen area of Karatsu city. The Iroha observatory is a scenic spot in Genkai Quasi-National Park where you can see the various islands floating in Imari Bay🌊

Visiting Karatsu Castle

Last Saturday we had decided to take a drive🚙 to Karatsu Castle🏯 in the heart of the city🏙 The castle was built between 1602 and 1608 by Terazawa Hirotaka, a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, became lord of Karatsu in 1595. It is said that the castle was built using dismantled materials from Nagoya Castle of Hizen Province, which was abandoned after Hideyoshi's death. There was no castle tower when the castle was built, but was installed in 1966 as a cultural tourist facility. 

There is Maizuru Park on the site, from which you can see the Genkai Sea and Nijinomatsubara. 

We parked a car in the parking lot and go up the stairs to the castle.

When we went up the stairs, we met the keep tower😄

Panorama views of Nijinomatsubara (虹の松原) seen from the observation zone on the 5th floor. The beautiful pine beach🏖 looks like a green belt😃

I saw the Central Karatsu in front of my eyes👀 

Close up view of the Takashima Island.

And one more picture of the small islands on the bay of Karatsu.